I've only really seen this guy play when they play the Rockets, but it seems like he's incapable of doing anything on offense without the aid of a pick. It seemed like every time he touched the ball last night, there was a guy coming to set a pick for him. For some reason I see guys like this as lesser players. Like they can't beat their man on their own and need help to be effective. Do he/Portland always play like that? I understand that if something works, there's no reason to go away from it. However, I'm interested to know what else he has to offer. He seems to play like a Reggie Miller with better ball-handling skills and not as much pure shooting ability, going by the admittedly limited amount of times I've seen him play. I'd still probably trade anyone on the Rockets for him though.
Why go solo when you can get a better shot? This is a team sport, and I think I do remember occasionally he can beat some guys off the dribble. For your reasoning would say Artest > Roy which is not true. What he offers is more team play.
A_3PO flips out in 3, 2, 1.......... But honestly, Roy's game is pretty much tailor-made to run a PnR based offense. When you have his sort of deadly mid-range game combined with his incredible handle, timing and instincts it's basically poor coaching to not take advantage of that type of advantage. Besides, the whole "Can he *REALLY* create his own shot or *REALLY* beat his man one-on-one?" argument is pretty overplayed if you have a player like Roy in the right system. I could probably make the same argument against Deron Williams but I know full well despite all the PnR's and PnPops he takes advantage of, he's still a great player that could function in any offense.
Yes he can and does it often. Depends on the defender and how good the team defense is. When a pick is better, LA will come out and 80% of the time it turns into a pick-n-pop for LA as both defenders go after Roy. They kill teams with this when LA's jumper is on. Against similar-sized players like Ronnie Brewer, Larry Hughes, etc, Roy just needs 1/2 a step to seal the defender off and it's over because he's pretty strong. Against smaller players, he will quickly back them down. Against bigger guys, sometimes he does the LeBron thing by going outside the 3-point line and getting a running start. His knee has been bothering him recently and it shows the last few games. Good thing LA has stepped in to take up the slack.
thats like saying CP3 can't do anything without a pick since that mostly all he does, they both can take their man one on one.
I think it's more of a plus that he knows how to work the PnR than a crutch for him. I think he can get to the rack without it, easily. Like Chris Paul, he has much more athleticism than he shows. Roy in the PnR is deadly because he is a great playmaker unlike some other wing players (Vince Carter, Jason Richardson, etc.) who aren't as capable of working the PnR so they have to go 1on1 nearly every possession. Basically, he understands the goal isn't necessarily for him to get by his man but for his team to score.
For the past 2 seasons, every time T-Mac gets a pick for him the defense doubles him and he always stands there for 5 seconds before passing. There is no reason we should take pick and roll offense for granted in Houston.
What pmac and A3PO said are spot on.... There's a reason why LA has increased his scoring average dramatically over his rookie year. It's because Roy and Aldridge have their go to move which is the PnR which they started utilizing last year. Also Pryzbilla gets at least a couple easy dunks/close range buckets every game from rolling to the hoop after setting the pick for Roy. Roy utilizes ever facet of the game to his advantage. The Pick N Roll just happens to be 1 of many and his butter go to move. Player's don't average 23 ppg by being 1 dimensional. Also he dropped 52 earlier this season against the Suns with a plethora of different moves. The Roy and Reggie Miller comparison is also very erroneous. Roy can pass, grab rebounds, drive to the hole at will, pop the J/3pter, defend, creates for his teammates, is a true leader, more athletic and stronger than he looks, and he's pretty damn clutch to top it all off. I'd say he's probably one of the most complete 2 guards in the league and the best part is he's only going to get better.
I don't like when people say "Oh well all player A does is this." well if that is all he does then he should be easier to stop.
Comparing Brandon Roy to Reggie Miller makes no sense at all. I'm a life-long Pacer fan who grew up watching the Pacers since they were in the ABA playing in the Fairgrounds Coliseum. But let me say one thing: Reggie Miller is one of the most over-rated players in NBA history. He's one of the smartest athletes I've ever watched, but the guy was incredibly one-dimension and was far from a complete player. Roy has the total package, plus the leadership ability and right now is better than Reggie Miller ever was. I don't know if Roy will have the lengthy career Miller did, but that isn't my point. The only two things Miller did better than Roy does now is shoot from long range and move without the ball. Everything else, Roy does much better.
Well the similarity I saw was only in the reliance of screens to create offense (and frame). Of course Roy does it off the dribble and Miller did it off the ball. But going by the feedback here it sounds like Roy has more ways than that to be effective; I just haven't seen it as much in the matchups with Houston. I agree about Miller being overrated.
How come Shaq only dunks? Brandon Roy is about all polished a player as you will find. Why wouldn't he use the PnR when he gets the best shots that way? Watch him regularly and you will swear you are watching Dywane Wade with a step less athleticism.
Kobe Bryant drained his last 3 pointer in Battier's face in the Lakers game. At least thats what it looked like even though Kobe CLEARLY used a pick on Battier to get extra room. Its still the results of the play that counts. Emmitt Smith used the blocks he got to tremendous results. Most running backs cant even do that. So using picks to 23 points a game is a skill.
It's like saying Emmitt Smith is a lesser runner than Earl Campbell because Smith was one of the most skilled in using blockers while Earl just knock defenders down on his own. Another way to see this. By your logic, PGs are the best players and centers are the worst, because centers have to rely on his teammates to get him the ball while PGs create for themselves and others.
Those two things Miller did only allowed him to become the all-time leader in 3-point FGs. Point is that every good players do something great. Some are more balanced than others...but some of the greats are one-dimensional players...the thing is...No one stopped Reggie, just like no one is stopping Roy now off of picks. Difference is these players realize their strentghs. We have a player on our team who could be good if he just realized his strentghs *coughronartestcough* and didn't try to do too much. Can't knock a guy for having a go to move, hell go to it until they force you to do something else.
No pick, just a head fake & flush on a 7ft'er <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9soE8EO9d4g&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9soE8EO9d4g&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
Barry Sanders doesnt need no stinking blockers! I dont see Roy as being any more or less dependent on picks than DWill, CP3, or Chauncey Billups. They all can hit that 20 footer if they get open on the pick.
